WSOP Officials to Conduct Media Conference Call Today, Will They Announce Delayed Main Event Final Table?

The Entities who comprise Wicked Chops Poker will be on a so-called "media" conference call today at 2pm EST where world renown blogger Jeffrey Pollack and equally renown tourney director Jack Effel will preview the 2008 World Series of Poker.

So will this be when WSOP officials announce the big news that Wicked Chops Poker first reported, that the Main Event final table will be delayed until after ESPN airs all of the episodes up to the final nine players?

Or will this big news be announced today even ahead of the conference call?

We think we know the answer, but we'll have to wait and see...

UPDATE: And yes, we were right. Read more at ESPN's Poker Club here.

2008 WSOP Guide: Win a Free Seat to the Main Event on ESPN.com

Seriously, is there a better way to start the 2008 WSOP Guide than with the latest Keeley Hazell naked topless pic? (click image above for NSFW version)

Keeley posed for Nuts, the awesome UK publication that brought you topless Wii last year, which was way sexier than watching Gavin Smith and Daniel Negreanu play high-stakes Wii bowling matches against each other in the Poker Royalty player's lounge.

In somewhat related although really completely unrelated news, for the fourth consecutive year the ESPN Poker Club is offering a trip to the World Series of Poker Main Event. The winner will receive airfare from his or her (ok, his) local airport to Las Vegas and hotel accommodations during the tournament.

Basically you get three chances to qualify for the final tournament. The satellites are every Sunday for three weeks. Finish in the top 25 in any Sunday qualifiers and you're in the finals.

So go to the ESPN Poker Club to get more details and start playing today for your chance to win.

BREAKING: Phil Laak Was Playing 10/20 at Bellagio the Other Day

As reported by multiple sources (here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and so on), poker pro Phil Laak was seen playing 10/20 NL at Bellagio the other day.

Developing . . .

Photo above of Phil Laak not playing 10/20 at Bellagio.

2008 WSOP Survival Tips Coming Soon (Like Tomorrow)

The 2008 WSOP is just one month away.

And to usher in what we like to call "Christmastime for Poker Players," the Entities who comprise Wicked Chops Poker have decided to put together a list of tips and information that will help our readers better manage their WSOP experience.

Every Monday - Friday (starting tomorrow, a Thursday), we'll post a new tip. From the mundane (the full 2008 WSOP schedule) to the not-mundane (best strip clubs in Las Vegas), we'll hopefully cover all the essentials...

...unlike the photo of occassional charity/celeb poker host Brooke Burke below, in which she barely covers any of the essentials.

Catgirl to Play Poker Naked at PartyPoker.com World Open

Some poker stories we have a real hard time making interesting, while others are 100% up our wheelhouse.

So a 23 year-old Russian hottie who goes by the name Catgirl and will be playing in the PartyPoker.com World Open this week in nothing but body paint (full photo here) would definitely qualify as "100% up our wheelhouse."

Catgirl is from Latvia, which we think is where Latka Gravas was from. No word yet if Catman bought her on the underground market.

In her televised heat at the World Open, the 23-year-old former gymnast (very nice) will be up against Dave 'Devilfish' Ulliott, Surinder (is he French?) Sunar, Liam Flood (great action hero name), World Series of Poker Europe runner-up (meaning he's already lost to a woman) John Tabatabai, and Ian Woodley (great name for a wimpy Englishman who gets embarrassing boners at inappropriate times in inappropriate places... "Ian sported the most inappropriate erection at the mall today, papa." "Ian!" "Sorry but I cannot help it.").

Other names competing in the tournament include Mike Sexton, Juha Helppi, Marc Goodwin, Barny and Ross Boatman, Theo Jorgensen, Jon Kalmar, Thomas Bihl, Robin Keston and Roy Brindley.

The 72 runner $8,000 buy-in event features 12 heats and a first prize of $250,000 from a total prize pool of $576,000.

The below video is of Catgirl actually getting painted while in the buff, which sounds pretty hot but is actually pretty creepy.

Video of Catgirl naked getting painted

Full photos of a naked Catgirl fully painted after the jump...

Shannon Elizabeth No Longer Dancing With the Stars

Go figure. The one Monday we don't post a video of Shannon Elizabeth's Dancing With the Stars performance, she gets eliminated the very next day.

We guess the Wicked Chops Poker vote was keeping Shannon and her boy-wonder dance partner in all this time.

Oh well, it was a good run Shannon. And thanks for driving some added traffic to our site, even if we did lose one reader because of you.

Watch Shannon's last performance below, which was near perfect in the legs and boobs department but apparently a tad stiff on the whole dancing side of things.

We're guessing the comment she makes about her butt at the end is why we're getting searches for "Shannon Elizabeth butt implants" to our site.

Watch above video of Shannon on YouTube here.

Some highlights of our Shannon Elizabeth Dancing With the Stars coverage over the past whatever weeks:

Video: Shannon Elizabeth on Dancing with the Stars Week 4
Shannon Elizabeth Back to Showing Legs on Dancing with the Stars
"Salty" Joe Hachem Turned Down Dancing with the Stars
Sannon Elizabeth Survives 1st Cut on Dancing With the Stars
Shannon Elizabeth Looking Good on DwtS, But Needs to Show More Leg Next Time

15 Surefire Ways to Play in the Next NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship

The selection committee for NBC’s National Heads-Up Poker Championship, hosted by Leeann Tweeden (at right), has just announced a list of automatic ways to get invited to upcoming Heads-Up Championships. Or put another way, the Top 15 Reasons Your Chances of Getting Invited to Upcoming Heads-Up Championships are Slim to None. Except for maybe the ALL In magazine Player of the Year one. That seems like it may be easy to win.

Here are the 15 ways to earn an auto-invite (full press release after the jump):

- Previous 5 National Heads-Up Poker Champions
- Previous 2 National Heads-Up runners-up
- Defending National Heads-Up semifinalists
- Any player who cashes in the past 4 consecutive years of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship
- Previous 3 World Series of Poker Main Event Champions
- Defending World Series of Poker Main Event runner-up
- Beginning with the 2008 WSOP, multiple bracelet winners in the same year will receive an automatic invitation to the next Heads-Up Championship
- Defending World Series of Poker Player of the Year
- Defending World Series of Poker Heads-Up Champion
- Defending World Series of Poker Europe Main Event Champion (must be 21 or older)
- Reigning World Poker Tour Player of the Year
- Reigning Monte Carlo European Poker Tour Grand Final Champion (must be 21 or older)
- Reigning Card Player magazine Player of the Year
- Reigning Bluff magazine Player of the Year
- Reigning ALL IN magazine Player of the Year

Guy Who Forwarded Howard Lederer 'Freak' Email Wins WSOPC Prelim Event

We're not big on reporting on prelim tournaments at WSOP-Circuit events, but when they're won by the "errand monkey" at Full Tilt Poker who forwarded Howard Lederer's freak/weird dude email about Jimmy “gobboboy” Fricke, it's worth the mention.

If you don't recall, gobboboy sent an email to FTP last November asking to be sponsored at the Aussie Millions, and in replying to gobboboy, FTP's jack-of-all-trades Jason "J.D." Newitt (at right) accidentally attached an internal email from Howard Lederer in which the professor called gobboboy "a freak and a very weird dude." (Read our post on the "Fricke is a Freak" email here).

Well, we think Newitt was shit canned after that unfortunate mishap, but if you felt bad for him, you can can feel better as Newitt just pocketed $71,439 by winning the $500 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em event at Caesars Palace Las Vegas, which is part of the World Series of Poker Circuit.

In the press release announcing Newitt's win, the WSOP's go-to man Nola Dalla points out that Newitt was a "consultant and public relations specialist," and before that, he was an editor on "That 70's Show'" where he set up regular poker games with the show's stars like Mila Kunis, Danny Masterson, and Laura Prepon, who all went on to play in the 2004 WSOP Main Event.

While we've seen Danny and Laura at the WSOP since then, we haven't seen the Ukrainian-born Mila around the poker tables much which is sad considering her photos below. Hopefully one of the poker sites is considering adding Mila to their celebrity team this year. Howabout it Howard?

Jamie Gold's Personal Videographer Pissed, Will Auction 'Negative' Footage on eBay

Rae Valentine, the videographer who followed Jamie Gold around pretty much everywhere the WSOP Main Event champ went for several months before, during and after his controversial win in the summer of 2006, is set to auction off all of the video footage he has of Gold on eBay which he claims will "validate some of the negative imagery surrounding the life of Jamie Gold." Says Valentine on a website he created recently: "On August 10, 2008, the 2-year anniversary of Jamie's World Series Of Poker 2006 win, I will end a 5-day auction on Ebay providing the winning bid with all video content associated with the Jamie Gold Project, in its entirety. Maybe this day will prove to be lucky for me. I truly hope whomever ends up with this content has the same passion I once had of making a compelling movie documentary, even in it's moments of controversy, as interesting and entertaining a story, I know it to be." Valentine claims that he was hired by Gold per a "gentlemen's agreement" (Jamie's good at those) to produce a behind the scenes movie documentary and had followed Jamie "through airports and hotels, limos and casinos, from Los Angeles to New York." Valentine alleges that their friendship soured after Gold's win and that he has lost "an estimated $150k" because apparently Jamie no longer wishes to use the footage for a documentary, which we can't really blame Gold for considering how sucky poker movies are doing at the box office. According to Valentine: "A majority of the footage shows Jamie as an arrogant, paranoid, at times over-the-top individual who through all of his imperfections can be quite entertaining as he plots strategies (while in the comfort of his hotel bed with two plain clothes security guards posted just outside his door) on how he will defeat each of his opponents in the final days leading up to his poker world series victory." Arrogant, paranoid, at times over-the-top, and with security guards? No, not the Jamie Gold we know. No way. Check out all of what Rae has to say on his website, including a few transcripts from the footage featuring none other than our good pal Crispin Leyser, here. In related Jamie Gold eBay auction news, no one paid $5,000 for Jamie Gold's urinal mint. Semi-relatedly, Jamie Gold thinks Wicked Chops Poker is "awesome."

Keeley Hazell is a Singer, Releases "Voyeur" Music Video

Our favorite top-dropper Keeley Hazell is branching out from showing off her perfectly massive natural 32Es in one photo spread after another to showing off her perfectly massive natural 32Es while singing in music videos.

Yep, the British hottie who has been the official Wicked Chops Poker Girl for 3 years running now just released a one-minute music video tease for her new single "Voyeur" (full video available for download May 2), and it's 60 seconds of pure Keeley Hazell goodness as she prances around in barely-there lingerie, works her way around a stripper pole and dances in front of two other half-naked chicks on a bed.

If you're curious if the song is any good or if Keeley Hazell can actually sing, then re-read the sentence above about Keeley in lingerie, a stripper pole and two other chicks and ask yourself if you really care. If you answer yes, go here.

Watch the video:



Keeley Hazell "Voyeur" music video

Remember when Keeley Hazell wasn't doing the singing but just "doing" the pop stars who sang? Relive those days below:

Keeley Hazell as Jennifer Lopez and Jessica Simpson
Keeley Hazell as Madonna
Keeley Hazell as Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera

Deal Was Mucked at the Box Office, Will My Blueberry Nights Be Better?

Deal, the new poker movie starring Dancing with the Stars' Shannon Elizabeth, limped in to this weekend's box office, banking $31,000 on 50 screens. It received exactly no good reviews, scoring a 0% on rottentomatoes.com. Not a good year for the poker movie. The Grand, which wasn't actually that poorly reviewed, still flopped. And Lucky You (which doesn't even deserve italics or bolding), which came out around this time last year, is possibly the worst movie ever made. However, thanks to reader Mike May (his blog here) for tipping us off on a Norah Jones/Natalie Portman/Rachel Weisz pseudo poker flick opening in Las Vegas this weekend called My Blueberry Nights: "I don’t know if this is anything that would be of interest to Wicked Chops, but...there’s a movie called My Blueberry Nights that is opening in Vegas this weekend.  It’s not really a poker movie. It’s mostly chick stuff that you might not be so into, with the singer Norah Jones driving around the country after a bad breakup.  But there are about 8-10 minutes of hot poker action.  Norah Jones’ character runs into a professional poker player played by Natalie Portman.  Unlike the Natalie Portman movie Closer, unfortunately in this movie Ms. Portman does not get down on all fours and show her Hooha to someone in a strip club.  Nonetheless, she does play poker and she looks pretty hot with short hair and a tiny dress." Pics of Portman from the flick above. Click to enlarge. May be just us but in the photos alone it seems that Natalie channeled a bit of the late Brandi Hawbaker for her role as a young, sexy and struggling poker player in Las Vegas. Mike May noted that Stu Ungar bio co-author Peter Alson was a consultant on the movie and he helped write the poker scenes.  And Mike himself played Portman's nemisis at the poker table.  Check out a video review of the Wong Kar Wai directed movie by the NY Times here. It shows Natalie playing some poker and Mike at the table with her about a minute or so in. In semi-related news, the still funny Natalie Portman SNL rap.

Gus Hansen Does Not Win WPT World Championship

After dominating final table play and at one time holding a 23,695,000 to 3,570,000 chip lead during heads-up action, Gus Hansen just missed out on his would-be record fourth WPT title.

Gus had eliminated Jeff King, Tommy "The Asian Tommy Lee" Le, Cory Carroll, and John Roveto (all pictured above, although not in the order that we just listed) in near record speed. With 84% of chips in play once they got to mano e mano, he only had to get past David Chiu for the title.

Chiu hung in while Hansen held the chip lead. But when Chiu eventually took the lead, it took only two hands to win the tournament.

On the final hand, Hansen flopped two-pair to Chiu's top-pair. The turn brought Chiu a flush draw and he and Hansen got all-in. The river brought Chiu trip Aces and the WPT World Championship title.

Read the drama of the final hands from the WPT's excellent tourney reporting site.

Final table payouts were: David Chiu - $3,389,140, Gus Hansen - $1,714,800, John Roveto - $923,355, Cory Carroll - $593,645, Tommy Le - $395,725, and Jeff King - $263,815.

Phil Ivey Makes David Blaine Eat Glass for $10,000

David Blaine creeps us the fuck out.

Sure, we may be a little jealous that he gets to bang super-models like Josie Moran (above), Mallory Snyder, Manon von Gerkan, Lonneke Engel, and even Fionna Apple, who is probably killer in the sack.

And his "magic" isn't so much "magic." It's more like an extreme version of Jackass.

But for whatever reason, magicians/illusionists seem to pull mad tail. And David Blaine is obviously no exception. Even though he's creepy and is friends with Michael Jackson.

Preamble out of the way, Blaine apparently is friends with none other than poker player Phil Ivey. As most of you know, Ivey loves to make extreme prop bets. So last night at TAO in New York, Ivey popped this one on the magician: eat some glass for 10 dimes.

And according to contactmusic.com:

"So Blaine broke a large glass and then ate every shard, much to the horror of fellow diners.
And the star's representative confirmed that the stunt was genuine..."

Read the full article here.

Photos of Josie Moran and one of Mallory Snyder (far right) that magically get bigger when you click them below . . .

Critics Love Shannon Elizabeth Poker Movie Deal, Which Hits Theaters Tonight

A month after Zak Penn's The Grand stormed the box office by banking just enough to buy-in to the WPT Championship, the poker movie Deal, which stars waxy-looking golden ager Burt Reynolds and features Dancing with the Stars' Shannon Elizabeth (at right) playing a Las Vegas hooker, hits movie screens tonight in select cities, and already critics are rushing to give it praise.

Just sample some of these rave reviews:

"Deal has to take the title of the worst film ever about the game and that includes the how-to videos with Joan Rivers impersonators you see in your Vegas hotel room." - Erik Childress, efilmcritic.com

"One of the most cliche-ridden and generally misguided films of not just the year, but the decade so far." - Brian Tallerico, Deadbolt.com

"Director/co-writer Gil Cates Jr. gives us a by-the-numbers execution of a by-the-numbers story, which would barely be movie-of-the-week material but for Reynolds's 'star power.'" - LA City Beat

"A poker movie that has the dubious honor of being even worse than Lucky You." - Gary Thompson (but not the Gary Thompson?), Philadelphia Daily News

In related news our highly acclaimed screenplay titled Sitting on the Can While Writing This Post just got greenlit. It's set to be filmed this morning, after our third cup of coffee kicks in. Drop us an email if you want to be an extra.

Below is a video of RawVegas.tv's Denise Pernula prettying up the red carpet at the Deal's premiere last night at the Palms in Las Vegas. Maybe it's us but it's like director Gil Cates Jr. and his producers know they made a piece of crap film. Like they were baked out of their minds when they shot it and now are trying to stop themselves from laughing as they try to talk serious about it. Also in the video, card-tossing couple Jennifer Tilly and Phil Laak talk about their non-plans ahead of the 2008 WSOP, and in news sure to delight ex-WCP reader Carl, Dancing With the Stars' lovebirds Shannon Elizabeth and Ricky Schroder Derek Hough say they are getting married in Las Vegas. Burt Reynolds unfortunately couldn't get out of the Madame Tussaud museum he lives in to walk the red carpet.

Video on RawVegas.tv here.

Gus Hansen Guns for Record Fourth WPT Title

The 2008 WPT World Championship final table is set with a familiar face on top of the leaderboard.

Gun Hansen, winner of three WPT titles (and four if you count the Bad Boys tourney, which we don't) and maker of five final tables (and recent menu category addition), is positioned to take down his biggest poker payday to date. With only six remaining, Gus is big stacked with 8,570,000.

He's trailed by Cory Carroll (6,670,000) and David Chiu (6,050,000).

They're trailed by John Roveto (2,720,000), Tommy "The Asian Tommy Lee" Le (1,950,000), and Jeff King (1,305,000).

All return on Saturday to play for the $3.3M first place prize.

Just missing the final table were Amir Vahedi (7th), Tom "durrr" Dwan (9th), Kenny Tran (10th), and Michael Gracz (11th).

Yeah, that's all we got.

Poker News Looking 'Sexiest' with Megan Fox

Megan Fox, the tattooedly hot actress from Transformers who is bizarrely banging that dude who dated Donna on the show 90210 which your parents' parents used to watch back in the 20th century, has been voted FHM's Sexiest Woman of 2008. The perennially pretty Jessica Alba and our favorite top dropper Keeley Hazell finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively. A bunch of other chicks you'd toss your girlfriend aside for round out the top 100. Check out the list here. Check out Fox looking stunningly hot in various states of undress below. One of the pics btw is of a short Mexican cop on the Sunsent Strip ... see if you can figure out which one it is.

Some sort of newsy poker links for you . . .

:: We aren't the only really goodlooking guys surprised that Doyle Brunson is a blogger (Click here and here)

:: Apparently Phil Hellmuth can't see too well into Guy Laliberte's soul (Click here)

:: We aren't the only poker news-ers who write about Shannon Elizabeth on Dancing with the Stars (Click here)

:: If you live wherever it is WTVY News 4 airs, you should play this poker tournament to support our troops (Click here)

:: License plate poker . . . genius! (Click here)

:: Who dunnit? Poker pro son is suspect in poker pro's father murder (Click here)

:: Friendly poker games won't be legal anytime soon in that state with the palmetto tree and Islamic-y looking crescent moon silhouette logo people annoyingly like to wear all around the south (Click here)

:: Maine's Governor John Baldacci hates charity poker games (Click here)

Next Year's Wicked Chops Poker Award Winner for Mother of the Year

The Entities who comprise Wicked Chops Poker are a little less than a year away from giving out our next batch of Wicked Chops Poker Awards. However, we have a really, really good idea who will be winning the "Mother of the Year."

It'll be this woman.

According to WWMT in Wyoming, a woman left her kids in a car to play a poker tourney:

Reports say police found the three kids in the parking lot of Woody's Press Box around 1:00 Wednesday morning.

In related news, one of the positive side effects of pregnancy is the natural breast enhancement it gives, and Christina Aguilera's kid is one lucky little dude.

WPT World Championship: Amir Vahedi, Gus Hansen, Tom "durrrr" Dwan Are Big Stacked

Only 17 remain in the $25k buy-in WPT World Championship. Leading the way is Amir Vahedi with 3,907,000.

Vahedi you may remember as the sixth place finisher in the 2003 WSOP Main Event. While it doesn't seem like we've heard much from the cigar chumping Vahedi over the years since, the dude does have $2.85 mill in tourney earnings.

Still hanging around the top of the leaderboard are both Gus Hansen (2,929,000) and Tom "durrrr" Dwan (2,874,000).

Some other big name big stacks include past WPT and WSOP bracelet winner Michael Gracz (1,674,000), our new pick to win it Kenny Tran (1,442,000), and Robert Mizrachi (1,079,000).

Defending champ Carlos Mortensen was knocked out in 38th place.

And f' us if we're wrong, but we think with all of the elminations today, Jonathan Little wraps up WPT POY honors. Well, found the link, it's true.

Get full chip counts here.

WPT Ceremony of Champions: Gavin Smith Injured; Jennifer Tilly to Quit Poker?

On Monday night the World Poker Tour hosted its Ceremony of Champions gala inside the O Theater at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. The event brought together all past WPT winners, presenting them with newly designed Tiffany & Co. bracelets.

Before the actual awards ceremony was a cocktail party where Gavin Smith discussed the bad beats his body has been taking lately, Phil Gordon and Howard Lederer talk about settling their WPT lawsuit and rejoining the circuit, and Jennifer Tilly sounds as if she's about to give up poker.

This last one is particularly tragic, because who is going to be there now to mentor Lacey Jones, Liz Lieu, and Michele Lewis on how to stay smoking hot while pushing 50? Or give them the fountain of youth juice she's drinking or however the hell she's doing it?

WPT Ceremony of Champions video

Gus Hansen Leads WPT World Championship, Finally Gets His Own Menu Category

Looking at our Menu Categories (far right, under the Poker Helper ad), it's bordering on ridiculous that Andy Bloch and Blair Hinkle have their own links yet Gus Hansen is left out.

Well, not any longer he isn't.

With the money bubble bursted and only 55 remaining at the 2008 WPT World Championship, Hansen sits atop the leaderboard with 2,246,000. He's followed by Cory Carroll 1,900,000.*

A win here and Gus would earn a record fourth WPT championship title and boost his career tourney earnings to over $7 mill. Even more importantly, his performance today earned him a year's supply of almonds as the Blue Diamond Almonds Bold Player of the Day. Can't front on that.

Some other big name big stacks include Tom "durrr" Dwan, Mark Newhouse, Men "The Master" Nguyen, and Andy Black.

Last year's champ Carlos Mortensen is still alive as well.

Not alive but in the money is Daniel Negreanu, who was involved in the biggest hand of the night, a four-way all-in involving two sets, a flush, and two-pair. Read about the cold, soulless, unforgiving details of how poker can be sometimes here.

Speaking of soulless, Jordan Rich, a ginger, which means he has no soul, was the bubble boy.

* All chip counts "unofficial" until the WPT say so, so check back here for the "official" counts later in the morning.

Carl Doesn't Like Our Shannon Elizabeth Dancing with the Stars Coverage

When we started covering Dancing with the Stars' Shannon Elizabeth (who happens to be on Dancing with the Stars this season), we figured some readers wouldn't like it. But given we're first page Google on Shannon Elizabeth DwtS search terms, and that DwtS is one of the most searched shows on television, well, all we gotta say is Shannon Elizabeth Dancing with the Stars Dancing with the Stars Shannon Elizabeth.

Most readers pretty much "get" what we've been up to with this whole Shannon Elizabeth thing. No complaints. And that's why we love our readers.

But then on occassion you have a reader like Carl. Says Carl via email:

You guys have been deleted from my favorites list. Who did Shannon ElizaBITCH blow at your headquarters that convinced you she needs to be front and center on your opening page for months? Is it poker news or Shannon news? Rename your pitiful site to TMZwickedchops. Thanks for sukin, Your Welcome.

Can't make everyone happy all of the time. Unless you're a girl at a massage parlor.

In related news, Shannon Elizabeth, who plays poker, survived elimination again on Dancing with the Stars. So looks like there's at least one more week of Shannon Elizabeth on Dancing with the Stars.

Read more Dancing with the Stars Shannon Elizabeth news

This Guy's Brother Leading WPT World Championship

While donning a RawVegas.tv lid didn't do much for Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi's karma yesterday at the 2008 WPT World Championship at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, his brother had a helluva day.

Robert Mizrachi stormed to a huge chip lead, ending the day stacked at 523,200. He's trailed by Jayde Tran, a woman, with 406,700.

Only 188 remain going into Day 3 play. Defending champ Carlos Mortensen is among the big stacks with 371,600. Some other big name big stacks include Kenny Tran (367,400), Michael Gracz (364,800), Marcel Luske (325,200), Tom Schneider (288,000), Joe Sebok (278,100), Gus Hansen (246,000), our favorite scarf-wearing Euro Dario Minieri (220,000), and the spectacularly breasted J.C. Tran (201,300). Our perennial pick to win it, Huck Seed, is still alive with 71,000.

Get full chip counts from the WPT here.

And look for video of last night's WPT Ceremony of Champions later today...

Shannon Elizabeth Not Dating Derek Hough...Or Is She???

Rumors were swirling all over the so-called "Internet" yesterday about some racy pictures of Dancing with the Stars' Shannon Elizabeth making out with her Mormon dancing partner Derek Hough on a Malibu beach.

However, although some contestants on the show revealed that Shannon is now single (for like two weeks, dumping her teacher boyfriend), it looks like those pictures were just part of her Dancing with the Stars intro segment. OR ARE THEY???

Whatever who cares. She's probably banging him though.

While we wouldn't know how to judge a dance routine from a Chinese spelling bee, poker playing Shannon looked pretty good this week from what we could tell, although her 24 score leaves her near the bottom.

Dancing with the Stars Shannon Elizabeth week 6 video

Lee Jones to Join CardRunners.com as Chief Operating Officer

Bluff Magazine has broken a story that Lee Jones (not at right), the ex-poker room manager for PokerStars.com, will join CardRunners.com as its new Chief Operating Officer.

Jones had been working as host and organizer for EPT events, as well as its lead broadcaster.

"Team Cardrunners"  (Taylor "Green Plastic" Caby, Cole "cts" South, Brian "sbrugby" Townsend, Eric "p3achy_keen" Liu, Brian "Stinger885" Hastings, Mike "Schneids" Schneider, and Andrew "muddywater" Wiggins) recently joined the Full Tilt Poker roster.

Read the full story at Bluff here.

* Special thanks to Vikki Blows for making this post a little sexier. Get more Vikki Blows at the Vikki Blows blog. Vikki Blows Vikki Blows Vikki Blows.

WPT World Championship: David Benyamine, Tom "durrr" Dwan Among Day 1B Leaders, Carlos Mortensen Off to Strong Start

UPDATE: Day 1b of the 2008 WPT World Championship is done, with David Benyamine (169,350) and Tom "durrr" Dwan (155,675) leading the way among the leaders.

Top overall is Jeff King with 211,575. Kenny Tran has 193,025 and last year's champ Carlos Mortensen is stacked at 172,075.

There were 335 runners who showed up today, pushing the total field for the 2008 championship to math math math...545. While short of last year's record of 639, it still guarantees first place a massive $3,389,140 pay day.

Only 35 were eliminated from today's field, and many big names are among the early big stacks, including Joe Tehan, whose name sounds too much like "Tehran" for our liking (143,275), the spectacularly breasted J.C. Tran (at right looking extra sultry on a bed of feathers grrrrrrrr, 138,350), Marcel Luske (117,225), Gus Hansen (110,325), and Daniel Negreanu (89,200).

Get full official chip counts from the WPT here.

Another Hustler Lingerie Photo Shoot, Which Took Place in Vegas, Which is Where the WPT World Championship is Being Played

In lieu of a Friday Night Parting Shot this week, we instead bring you the second in possibly the best trilogy to come along since the Godfather (Lord of the Rings was for dorks): RawVegas.tv's exclusive Hustler Lingerie video series. Filmed in a Las Vegas hotel room last week, it's 1:11 of semi-NSFW bliss.

In completely unrelated news, Rynie Campbell, Tom Dwan, and Marcel Luske are early Day 1b leaders at the 2008 WPT World Championship. Get chip counts here.

Hustler lingerie photo shoot video

WPT World Championship: Billy Baxter, Darrell "Deep" Dicken Lead Day 1A

The 2008 WPT World Championship kicked off at the Bellagio in Las Vegas today. A somewhat disappointing field of 210 showed for Day 1a. The anticipated 450-ish total field will fall way short of the record 639 of last year (won by Carlos Mortensen, who banked the $3,970,415 top prize).

Chip counts are still unofficial at post time, but leading Day 1a action (as far as you know) is Billy Baxter with 167,150. He's followed by 2008 Wicked Chops Poker Award Winner (best nickname category) Darrell "Deep" Dicken (163,000).

Other early big stacks include our favorite scarf-wearing-Euro Dario Minieri, Steve Billirakis, Brandon Cantu, and Mike Sexton.

Get full chip counts from the always great WPT tournament reporting team here.

In related news, go get your notepad out right now. Because if you want to learn how to bag any lady without having to buy a Frank T.J. Mackey instructional video, watch the clinic put on by Blue Diamond Almonds Bold Player of the Day Allen Kessler here.

And in unrelated news for all of our pothead readers, here's what the Hot for Words girl, 27 year-old Russian babe Marina, has to say about 420.

WPT Enterprises, Inc. Settles Lawsuit with Poker Players

One of our all-time favorite moves by the WPT, second only to the hiring of Kimberly Lansing and Layla Kayleigh, was the atomic nuclear f' you they gave to the poker player group who sued them.

Flash back to August 2006. Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Andrew Bloch, Annie Duke, Phil Gordon, Greg Raymer, "Salty" Joe Hachem, and Howard Lederer (Raymer and Salty Joe eventually dropped out) claimed that the WPT was violating federal and state antitrust laws and that they improperly used their images (a player release issue).

The WPT came back dropping bombs in a scorned-lover-kind-of-way press release. It got ugly.

But like an unmarried woman in her late '30's desperately wanting a child, the WPT and the players settled. Hopefully they will make babies now.

Says WPT CEO Steve Lipscomb:

"WPTE continues to deny any liability or wrongdoing, but wants to settle its differences with the players so that the tour can focus on its continued growth rather than litigation...We are glad to put this dispute behind us, and we look forward to working with all players to grow the sport of poker."

It's a good thing for poker that Lederer, Duke, Jesus, Gordon, and Bloch can rejoin the WPT, and it looks like this settlement could pave the way.

Read the WPT lawsuit settlement press release here.

Daniel Negreanu Training for a Big WSOP, Likes Fighting

With the 2008 WSOP just six weeks away, Daniel Negreanu is getting mentally and physically prepared for a big run this year.

In an interview with RawVegas.tv resident hottie and host Denise Pernula, Negreanu detailed what he's doing to prep for the grind of the WSOP (treadmill anyone?). However, he skated around a question as to whether or not the blow-up interview he did with our friends at Siktilt was staged (watch Daniel Negreanu push reporter into pool). One thing Negreanu made clear: he's not afraid to throw-down with anyone.

Watch Daniel Negreanu video interview

Jennifer Harman Must Be More Threatening Than We Give Her Credit For...

Apparently many poker pros decided to show up to the  2^nd Annual Jennifer Harman SPCA Charity Poker Tournament in Las Vegas because of the threat of bodily harm. From Jennifer Harman.

Both Phil Ivey and Barry Greenstein alluded to the not-so-thinly veiled threats by Harman as their primary reason for attending the event. However, the prospects of bodily harm turned out to be a good thing for Ivey, as he adopted a sweet little kitty!!!*

Watch the 2^nd Annual Jennifer Harman SPCA Charity Poker Tournament red carpet

* Last time "sweet little kitty" will ever be written on this site unless we're using it as slang for vag.

Glen Chorny Wins EPT Grand Final

Well, there was no U.S. American repeat at the EPT Grand Final.

However, the title will remain on North American soil.

Glen "Do I Make You" Chorny, a Canadian, has won the 2008 PokerStars.com EPT Grand Final.

For the win, Chorny banks $3,198,500, which is even more in Canada. Cause their dollar is worth more than ours. And we didn't even lose a war. In related news, up is down and black is white.

Chorny defeated Denes Kalo, a Hungarian, whose name backwards is Olak Sened, which sounds Norwegian, for the title. "Oui-oui" Canadian Maxime Villemure finished third. And the highest finishing U.S. American was Isaac 'westmenloAA' Baron in fourth.

Of note, our favorite funny sounding name remaining Big Top Pee-Wee Stip Top Rasmussen, finished 10th.

Get full final table payouts here.

BREAKING: Brandi Hawbaker Confirmed Dead

Updating our earlier post, we have just sadly received confirmation that Brandi Hawbaker is dead, reportedly taking her own life on Sunday. She was just 26 years old. The guys at NWP will have a statement soon from Brandi's ex-boyfriend, Brandon. Our condolences to Brandi's family. Developing...

Anyone See Brandi Hawbaker Lately?

We're not ones to trade in mere speculation or hearsay, or at least we don't when we can't substantiate it somehow, but last night we received a comment to one of our Brandi Hawbaker posts from a "Bob B. Bobson" of L.A. claiming that the dramabomb diva of poker had passed away at the age of 26.

Here's what the commenter said:

You may want to know that Brandi Hawbaker (of semi-recent poker drama) died earlier this week. She was 26 years old.

I do not know any more than that, including how she died or any circumstances of her death, or even if there is a funeral planned. Even if I did know, it's nobody's business but her family and friends.

Posted by: Bob B. Bobson | April 16, 2008 at 09:47 PM

First, let us just say that we hope this isn't in any way true. Second, we have every reason to believe it isn't true as it would surely be on one of the poker forums already, posted by someone who knows her way better than we do, and we have absolutely no reason to trust this random commenter who we don't know from Adam and who has never commented on our site in the past.

But the truth is we haven't seen Brandi (aka Naami Dea) around the past month or so, she hasn't played on FTP in awhile and after trying to contact her this morning, she has not yet reached back to us.

So we figured we'd ask . . . if you know anything, give us a shout.

Also, please don't link to this post. We're not interested in incoming links based on the baseless rumor of someone's passing. Just if you know something, email us or comment. Or discuss elsewhere.

EPT Grand Final: Antonio Esfandiari Out in 8th, 2 US Americans Left Looking for EPT 3-Peat

The television final table of the 2008 PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Grand Final in Monte Carlo got underway earlier today, and they're already down to the last 6 players competing for the €2,020,000 (US$3.2 million) first place prize.

The first to exit of the final eight was WPT poster boy Antonio Esfandiari, who takes home €168,000 (US$267,413). It's the biggest cash for the magic man since becoming a WPT millionaire in 2004 at the LA Poker Classic.

Out in seventh was the Russian with a somewhat girlish first name although nothing really sounds girlish when spoken in Russian, Valeriy Ilikyan.

Still in are two U.S. Americans, online poker ace Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron (3.44 mil in chips) and young cash game pro Michael Martin (1.75 mil). The pair are looking to do what a US American has done the last two years at the EPT Grand Final, pwn the event. This no doubt must piss the Euros off and especially the overly-hyped Scandi players who are supposedly dominating the poker scene today although are nowhere to be seen at the final table in Monaco and have only won one of the EPT events this season whereas US Americans have Yank'd their way to 3 victories. And if we failed to mention it already, a US American has won the EPT Grand Final, the biggest tournament on European soil, the last two years. Typical American bravado you say? We say typical American results.

Standing in the way of a 3-peat for the US of A and ready to dish us up some humble pie at the EPT Grand Final today is a beaver hunter from our icy neighbor to the North Glen "Me So" Chorny, who has the current chip lead with 3.6 million, Italian PokerStars pro Luca Pagano with 1.9 million, another beaver hunter but of the oui-oui kind Maxime Villemure (1.45 mil) and Hungarian Denes Kalo, who is starving for chips with only 700k the last we checked.

Chip counts here and here.

The Matt and Martin Show here.

Paupers of the poker press here.

UPDATE: That really pleasant Italian poker pro Luca Pagano has jumped to the top spot with 3.4 million in chips. Baron still second. Chorny down to 3rd. Martin needs some help, stacked about a mil under the average.

Do I Make You Chorny?

Quick update from our earlier post. Only 10 left at the 2008 PokerStars.com EPT Grand Final. Leading the way going into tomorrow's final table is Glen "Do I Make You" Chorny with 3,400,000. Chorny, who is from America Jr., is clearly bringing his "Eh" game to this event.

A few U.S. Americans still remain, including second in chips Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron (2,310,000), Michael Martin (1,610,000), and Antonio Esfandiari (670,000).

Our favorite funny sounding name remaining is Big Top Pee-Wee Stig Top Rasmussen (570,000).

"Salty" Joe Hachem just missed the final table and a shot at poker's fictitious "Triple Crown," finishing 11th and banking $159,943. Get full EPT Grand Final final table chip counts final here final.

Native English-Speaking Countries Lead at EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo

It's the middle of Day 4 at the European Poker Tour Grand Final in Monte Carlo, Monaco, and they're down to just 15 players battling for one of the 8 spots at the final table and a chance at the €2,020,000 first place prize.

Last we looked it was Glen Chorny, from American Jr., who's stacked the most with 1.38 million, and US American Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron is second with 1.37 million. In third right now is Londoner Robin Keston (1,148,000), and end of Day 3 chipleader Antonio Esfandiari has dropped to 5th with 1,072,000.

Sandwiched between Keston and Esfandiari is our favorite name left Stig Top Rasmussen (1,080,000), who hails from the land of hot chicks on bikes.

The nonsensically named Oyvind Riisem of Norway is just under the mil mark with 920,000.

In sixth is the WSOP Main Event champ from Australia "Salty" Joe Hachem (900,000), who with a win here, on top of his WSOP and WPT titles, would cement his status as a really, really good poker player.

Just three US Americans--Baron, Efandiari and Michael Martin--are left in the field, with hopes of making it a 3-peat at the EPT Grand Final for the Stars and Stripes.

Surprised busts today include CardRunner's Eric Lieu, half man, half amazing Freddy Deeb and Norwegian poker pro Johnny Lodden, who had been at or near the top of the chip count throughout the tournament.

Get live chip counts here.

For a "different sort of update" from the paupers of the poker press, go here.

We're not sure what the photo above of Sophie Monk looking sweaty hot has to do with this post. She's uh a native English speaker? She's looking sweaty hot? Yeh probably the latter. Anyway, you can see more of her by clicking the photo above and here.

Doyle Brunson Beer Pong Video

Just days ahead of the $25,000 buy-in WPT World Championship at the Bellagio, some of the biggest names in the game met up with poker legend Doyle Brunson at Hog & Heifers in Las Vegas for a little friendly Beer Pong competition set up by jane-of-all-trades Lara Miller. Among the pros there to lob the pongs while getting soused on the High Life included Todd Brunson, Jen Harman, Hoyt Corkins (at right), Phil Hellmuth, Gank Jungblut, and Marco Traniello.

RawVegas.tv was there to cover the action as Doyle and teammate Hoyt took on his son Todd and some poker dude from Montana. See how they fared in the video below although the screen grab above of Corkins after the match looking totally shit-faced is a bit of a spoiler. By the way, is there a movement to make Beer Pong an Olympic sport? If our Eskimo neighbors to the north were able to get shuffleboarding a rock on ice with a kitchen broom in there, no reason why we shouldn't be giving out gold medals for a skilled sport like Beer Pong.

Watch video on RawVegas.tv here.

Read Jeff Haney's account in the Las Vegas Sun here.

EPT Grand Final: Day 3 Ends with Antonio Esfandiari on Top, 39 Players Remain

Day 3 at the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Grand Final in Monte Carlo has officially come to an end with 39 players remaining, and US American Antonio Esfandiari is magically the man with the most at the million chips mark (official chips counts not up yet). Starting Day 4 tomorrow with the second most chips is Robin Keston, from London, UK, and Norwegian Johnny Lodden, Hungarian Denes Kalo and Junior American Maxime Villemure round out the top five.

Of note, the EPT Grand Final may or may not have set a new tournament record today for the longest bubble in history, clocked at over 2 and a half hours. That's hand-for-hand play for more than 150 minutes, to use another time unit, just to lose one player, who turned out to be the pro that sometimes looks like a pirate to us, Surinder Sunar.

Watch the PokerStarsBlog's sensationally dramatic account of the lengthy bubble in the video below. Unrelatedly, check out Kate, the dealer chick the PokerListing's guys are digging in Monte Carlo, here. One of you guys close the deal yet?

Watch video above on YouTube here.

PokerNews.com reports here and PokerListings.com here.

UPDATE: PokerStars has posted the official chips counts going into Day 4 of the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo. Check it out here. Of the remaining 39 runners, 10 hail from U.S. America with only 3 from Norway, despite having 4 at the top of the count at the end of Day 2. Stig Top Rasmussen has the best name left in the field, with Oyvind Riisem still looking more like an arbitrary assortment of letters to us and not the name of some Norwegian.

EPT Grand Final: Antonio Esfandiari Magically Leads, Joe Hachem Gets 'Salty' with Woody Deck

The new World Poker Tour poster boy and leader of the long-forgotten "Magician Invasion" of 2005, Antonio Esfandiari is the current chipleader at the PokerStars.com EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo, where 50 or so players remain gunning for the €2,020,000 first place prize.

Stacked at 655,000, according to PokerNews.com, Esfandiari hasn't won a major event since Bush's first term in office, which either means the guy is due or has no chance to pull this off. Could go either way. Yes, we're feeling especially noncommital today after watching the Brittany Lee Hustler video. With our pants down.

In second right now is Peter Traply from Hungary, who's been gobbling up chips all day amassing 590,000 last we checked. Sitting in third, Norway's Johnny Lodden with 550,000.

Still in and feeling especially salty today is "Salty" Joe Hachem (195,000), who is looking to complete the poker tour trifecta here by adding an EPT win to his WSOP and WPT titles. Word from the floor is that Hachem, who earned his nickname from us because he's quick tempered and feisty, was quick tempered and feisty today when the unfortunately named Woody Deck accused him of angle shooting and called him an asshole. An enraged Hachem looked as if he was going to pummel the cocky Deck when Antonio Esfandiari hopped on over, in total Rocks & Rings style, to hold him back. PokerNews.com reporter TassieDevil has the scoop over in their live reports section. Try to find it here if you can, or scroll down or click another page or give up trying to find it 'cause the PNewsers don't have permalinks for their posts. Web 2.0 Tony G. Help a brother out.

Besides Esfandiari, the hopes of US America pulling off a third consecutive EPT Grand Final win rest in the hands of some decent players, a few who don't necessarily sound like they're from U.S. America, like Rami Boukai (469,000), Isaac Baron (410,000), Noah Siegel (260,000), David Shade Kruger (243,000), Michael Martin (240,000) and CardRunner's Eric Lieu (237,000).

Most recent big name bust was Sorel Mizzi who exits in 55th place for €25,200.

Chip counts here.

The Matt and Martin Show here.

Otis and the PokerStars gang here.

Brittany Lee Hustler Lingerie Video Makes for a Good Post

The RawVegas.tv exclusive video below of Atlanta's Brittany Lee baring pretty much all in a Las Vegas hotel room while she models a bunch of sexy Hustler lingerie may not be suitable for viewing if you are:

- Under the age of 18
- At work and not you're own boss
- Not an ass man
- Not a boob man
- Not a legs man
- Not somewhere where you can close the door and make yourself comfortable
- Not really into hot Maxim Hometown Hottie winners wearing nothing but fishnet lingerie, leather and a bunch of see thru stuff
- A chick who isn't as cool as our current/first wives or girls like Lacey Jones, Michele Lewis or Liz Lieu who can appreciate a really hot chick 'cause they're really hot chicks
- Bob Stupak

If none of the above applies to you, click play below or watch Brittany Lee's Hustler lingerie video on RawVegas.tv here.

Need more of Brittany Lee? Check out photos of our favorite hottie from our hometown of Atlanta at MaximOnline.com.

ALSO, check out our all-time favorite of the Maxim Hometown Hotties, Jen Graham, donning a Wicked Chops Poker tank (and not much else) here and exposing herself to us here.

Norwegians Rule EPT Grand Final

Updating our earlier post on Day 2 risers at the 2008 PokerStars.com EPT Grand Final, the nonsensically named Oyvin Riisem continued to build his stack, ending play as chip leader with 441,400.

Oyvind is followed by three other Norwegian countrymates, Johnny Lodden (380,300), Borge Dypvik (296,000), and Andreas Hagen (276,800).

They must be putting something good in the North Atlantic water there, because aside from the renown abundance of smoking hot girls like Natassia Malthe (at right), Norway sounds like freaking heaven on Earth. At least according to Wikipedia it does:

Since World War II, Norway has experienced rapid economic growth, and is now amongst the wealthiest countries in the world,^[6][7][8] with a fully developed welfare system. This economic progress is caused in part by the development of oil and gas reserves off its coast. Norway was ranked highest of all countries in human development from 2001 to 2006, and tied in the first place with fellow Nordic country Iceland in 2007.^[9] It also rated the most peaceful country in the world in a 2007 survey by Global Peace Index.^[10] It is a founding member of NATO.

You probably get blowjobs when you walk off the plane too. And then they massage your back because, you know, blowjobs can cause a lot of tension.

In fifth overall is 2005 WSOP champ "Salty" Joe Hachem, stacked at 255,530. Some other big stacked big names include Sorel Mizzi (203,200), Freddy Deeb (153,300), Woody Deck (147,800), Stig Top Rasmussen (137,600), and Marcel Luske (128,700).

Get full chip counts from Poker News here.

PokerStars EPT Blog here.

More Natassia Malthe here.

Shannon Elizabeth Shows More, Scores Less

From what we can tell in this latest video, Dancing with the Stars' Shannon Elizabeth did the right thing by wearing very little clothing this week and showing off those fantastic gams.

However, rereading our post from last week, it appears as if she did not score as highly as she did on her graceful and elegant waltz. Holy shit did we just write that?

Tits boobs breasts 'gine. Ok, feel better now.

Watch the video of Shannon Elizabeth on Dancing with the Stars above or here.

More Shannon Elizabeth on Dancing with the Stars.

WCP Goes Heads-Up With Paul Phillips

What happened to Paul Phillips?

During the poker boom from '03-05, Phillips was one of the game's most recognizable personalities. With a WPT title and multiple WSOP final tables, Phillips was an accomplished mixed game player who amassed over $2.2M in career earnings.

As one of the first pros to embrace blogging, Phillips gained a following through his livejournal site, which is still popular to this day (although now void of poker-related content).

Phillips also built a rep for speaking out against what he saw as improprieties with the game, causing a few controversies along the way. Something we can certainly appreciate.

So what the hell has he been up to? Paul was kind enough to accept our interview request and discuss his latest passion (Scrabble), South Park, and of course, why he's no longer on the poker circuit.

WCP: You're no longer active on the tournament scene. What have you been up to the past couple of years?

PP: Got married, had kid, moved to Colorado, moved to Oregon, had another kid, decided to go back to school and get masters in Computer Science, applying now.

WCP: How are Scrabble and poker tournaments similar/different?

PP: Similar: people who don't quite fit into society are overrepresented.

Different: most Scrabble players have taken a vow of poverty, while most poker players live large until they can no longer borrow money.

WCP: How lazy was the "dot-com" nickname you got? You got any other nicknames you go by?

PP: Hey, at the time I received it (1999) it was not so widely applicable. I would not say I ever "went by" that nickname, which implies active participation - other people called me that. My livejournal username is "extempore," but I don't go by that either. So in a nutshell: no.

WCP: For the most part, the poker media is very forgiving to the players, burying or glazing over a lot of the less appealing aspects or personalities in the game. Part of your popularity was due in part to speaking your mind and not being worried about throwing flames on message boards and forums. Did this cause any personal issues with you and guys on the circuit? If so, did that also play any part in you withdrawing from tournament play?

EPT Grand Final Update: Johnny Lodden Not Rotten, Oyvin Riisem Rising, Joe Hachem Doing Well

Checking the current chip counts for Day 2 at the PokerStars EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo (photo, at right), it looks like Scandi poker ace Johny Lodden is leading the pack with 325,000 in chips trailing the nonsensically named Oyvin Riisem who has 385,000 in chips, with Lodden at 335,000.

In third is Haksoshj Yeiebdnam with 255,000. Actually, we just made that name up by typing random letters on our keyboard, which we're guessing is how half the players at the EPT Monte Carlo were named. Really in third is Andreas Hagen.

Of note, Joe Hachem is up over the 200k mark, and Woody Deck is proving to be stiff competition at the tables still with a sizeable stack of 145k.

Pros busted since we last posted include Josh Arieh, Chris Lee, Ryan Daut, Gus Hansen, Chad Brown, Peter Feldman, Victor Ramdin, Humberto Brenes, Barry Greenstein and Vanessa Rousso, a woman, who went to college at Duke, where she was educated at Duke.

On the really short, somewhat annoying, kinda weird but probably a nice guy US American amateur poker player front, EPT Copenhagen winner Tim Vance wasn't able to win another one for his daughter N-a-n-z-i.

Chip counts here.

PokerStars EPT Blog here.

The Matt and Martin Show here.

Below is a funny-if-your-poker-media video from the EPT crew, showing they have way too much time on their hands. Funny enough, when we saw the headline saying "Piechartgate" we thought it was some Euro dude's last name. Seems more plausible than Oyvin Riisem.

EPT video on YouTube here.

Poker News Looking Fit with Anna Kournikova Triathlon Photos

Thanks to pervie tennis photogaphers, Anna Kournikova brought daily workplace productivity to a virtual halt a decade ago with an endless stream of sexually suggestive "sports" photos of the not-quite-legal racket swinger. Fast forward to today and not much has changed except for Anna's age and the speed of the Internet, which makes looking at photos of her doing a triathlon (link below) or a shoot for K-Swiss (to the right) feel a lot less creepy and about a 100 times faster--leaving more time for this, this, this, this but not this.

All right, some poker news links:

:: Woman poker players find something to bitch about and for good reason (Click here)

:: Canuck Cheung chipleader at WSOP Circuit in E-town (Click here)

:: Ron Paul partners with Barney Frank on bill to slay online gambling prohibition (Click here)

:: Houston poker room raid leads to organized crime charges, and guns and poker are all the rage in Dallas (Click here and here)

:: Purple Lounge signs sexy poker player/model and Poker Night Live presenter Michelle Orpe (Click here)

:: Washington State PPA-er Lee Rousso keeps fighting the good fight (Click here)

:: Lacey Jones' "Hottest Girl in Poker" video rising the ranks over at RawVegas.tv (Click here)

:: Poker movie The Grand could hardly pay the buy-in for the WPT Championship with its box office receipts (Click here)

Anna Kournakova triathlon photos below and after the jump . . .

UPDATE: Photos of Anna Kournikova running during a triathlon removed, see some of them here.

EPT Grand Final - Some Funny Sounding Names Remain

Day 2 play is underway at the 2008 PokerStars.com EPT Grand Final. Here's our leaderboard of funny sounding names:

Starting it off is the man who may have a club named after him ala Davidson Matthew and Temp Hutter... Woody Deck (123,000). Then Uffe Holm (108,875), the potentially Italian Beniamino Speroni (80,525), Klas Gustav Axel Arvidsson (four names!!!) (47,050), Stig Top Rasmussen (46,350), the extremely sexily named Trond Erik Eidsvig (44,525), Chad Brown (37,125), Walid Bou Habib (33,550), Fowzi Baroukh (30,325), Torbjorn Jonson (25,150), Metaal Govert (6175), and Ditspong Pinpramot (4750).

Find some of your favorites and get live reporting at Poker News here.

This Girl is Playing the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo

Alexia Portal, the cute, often naked-in-movies French actress from our "This Girl is Playing the EPT Dublin" and "This Girl is Playing the EPT Polish Open" posts, is playing the PokerStars.com EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo. Last we checked over at PokerNews.com, Portal was up above the hundy k mark with 104,400. The photo to the right of her is a grab from some foreigny interview she did last summer on Lake Mead with Fabrice Solier (view video here).

A quick update from Day 2 of the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo . . .

Norwegian Johnny Lodden, the guy who reportedly got Trojan'd out of some serious euros, has the most chips right now at just over 200,000. Woody Deck is on the rise with 123k and some guy with 108k has the ridiculous first name Uffe.

Patrik Antonius, Juha Helppi, Vicky Coren, a woman, and Noah Boeken have all been eliminated on Day 2 of the EPT Grand Final.

Also gone today is Team PokerStars Daniel Negreanu, who was so confident he was going to win the tournament he already had shirts made celebrating his victory, or at least that's what he jokingly told the growing-on-us cute Kara Scott in the video below. Otis, or someone in MC, tell Kara the Entities say hello.

Watch video on YouTube here.

EPT Grand Final - Frenchman Cyril Bensoussan Takes Day 1B Chip Lead

As we walk around the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort* observing the action at the 2008 PokerStars.com EPT Grand Final, we couldn't help but think of all the things we'd rather be doing in Monte Carlo than covering a poker tournament.

Catch a game at the Louis II Stadium...take in a concert at Prince's Palace...get crunk at Jimmy'z...or chill out and reflect on life at the Sainte Devote Chapel.

But alas, we're stuck in the poker room.**

Leading Day 1B action is Cyril Bensoussan, who eats frog legs, with 130,000. Bensoussan has one major cash to his name at an EPT Prague No Limit Hold-em event. While we typically like to dump on the French, they do have possibly the hottest First Lady of all time right now in Carla Bruni (above). Bruni, who just auctioned off some nude photos of herself, reminds us that the French are at least good for thing: hot First Ladies.

Some big names that are still alive include Poker Stars team members Daniel Negreanu (36400), Chad Brown (35500), Joe Hachem (35400), and Vanessa Rousso (33500), as well as Gus Hansen (32000), Antonio Esfandiari (27350), and one of our favorite names in the field Stig Top Rasmussen (28000).

Get full chip counts from Poker News here.

* Or our house.
** Replace "poker room" with "living room."

ePassporte No Longer Accepting Online Poker Transfers

ePassporte is officially out as an option to deposit and withdraw funds for online poker players.

In a letter to Pitbull Poker and published on Compatible Poker, they state:

"We have been advised that the United State's Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York is conducting a widespread investigation of internet gambling, including poker. All though [sic] we do not believe we have done anything illegal, we do not wish to be associated with anything that might be considered illegal by the United States government."

In the meantime, Full Tilt Poker has issued a letter to all of its users with the following option:

"As an alternative to ePassporte, we are pleased to offer you our newest, most efficient payment processing option yet - Instant eChecks."

Poker Stars offers eCheck as well, which directly withdraws and deposits money into your bank account.

See the full ePassporte letter here.

* Thanks to reader DrewOnTilt for the link.

EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final Underway, US Americans Seek 3-peat, Woody Deck Still In, Boris Becker, a Ginger, Gone

The 4th season of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour is down to its crowning event, the EPT Grand Final, held along the banks of the Mediterranean in Monaco, the Principality that has given birth to hot royal-ers like Charlotte Casiraghi thanks to the extraordinary genes of Grace Kelly.

Action got underway yesterday at the Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel and Resort with 392 runners taking their seats on Day 1a of the €10,000 buy-in event. By night's end only 171 players still had chips to bag with Norway's Stephen Kjaerstad amassing the most, 111,200, followed by US American Chris "Genius28" Lee, (6,050) an uber-high-stakes online poker player who is not to be confused with this Chris Lee.

Ending up with the 3rd most was Norwegian Johnny Lodden, the Scandi poker ace who got Trojan'd out of a few hundred thousand euros, allegedly.

Some of the big names you may recognize and can pronounce making it to Day 2 include Shaun Deeb (84,375), Woody Deck (70,800), Sorel Mizzi (52,550), Mel Judah (47,450), Marcel Luske (46,375), Trond Erik Eidsvig (44,525), Luca Pagano (43,750),Nicolas Levi (43,250), Josh Arieh (38,500), Jason Mercier (35,375), Freddy Deeb (35,175), Thomas Wahlroos (34,500), Humberto Brenes (32,700), Anna Wroblewski (31,425), Thierry Van Der Berg (25,975), Peter Feldman (25,725), Bill Edler (22,250), Noah Boeken (18,250), Patrik Antonius (14,000) and Barry Greenstein (5,825).

Big name pros exiting on Day 1a include Phil Ivey, Greg Raymer, Erick Lindgren, Barny Boatman, Pascal Perrault, Jeffrey Lisandro, Ben Grundy, Tony G, David "El Blondie" Colclough, Tuan Lam, Julian Thew, Annette Obrestad, a woman, Katja Thater, also a woman, and Isabelle Mercier, also a woman.

Day 1b has been underway for several hours now with 450 runners starting today, bringing the total players in the field to a record 842, according to mathematicians. US America has the biggest contingency with 138 players looking to make it three EPT Grand Final titles in a row for the Red, White and Blue.

Like Day 1a, lots of big names are playing, are still in or have been eliminated. As the headline mentions, Boris Becker, a ginger, is done stealing souls at the EPT Grand Final, exiting early. We think Jordan Rich, also a ginger, is still in though, so watch your backs.

Get live reports of today's action in Monte Carlo from Otis and the PokerStarsBlog gang here and PokerListings 's Matthew Showell and Martin Derbyshire here.

Get yourself an escort in Monaco here.

Some senseless accolades from today and a video of Kara Scott, the Kimberly Lansing of the EPT, looking cute while doing her job after the jump: